Dictionary.com

palimpsest

[ pal-imp-sest ]
/ ˈpæl ɪmpˌsɛst /
Save This Word!

noun
a parchment or the like from which writing has been partially or completely erased to make room for another text.
something that has a new layer, aspect, or appearance that builds on its past and allows us to see or perceive parts of this past: Most of what we actually see when we view any culture is a historical palimpsest, with traces of former times.Today's towering Romanesque-Gothic structure is a palimpsest, the result of numerous additions and reconstructions.Memory is a palimpsest that is continually being written over, but never perfectly so.
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?

Origin of palimpsest

First recorded in 1655–65; from Latin palimpsēstus, from Greek palímpsēstos “rubbed again” (pálin “again” + psēstós “scraped, rubbed,” past participle of psân “to rub smooth”)

OTHER WORDS FROM palimpsest

pal·imp·ses·tic [pal-imp-ses-tik] /ˌpæl ɪmpˈsɛs tɪk/ adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use palimpsest in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for palimpsest

palimpsest
/ (ˈpælɪmpˌsɛst) /

noun
a manuscript on which two or more successive texts have been written, each one being erased to make room for the next
adjective
(of a text) written on a palimpsest
(of a document) used as a palimpsest

Word Origin for palimpsest

C17: from Latin palimpsestus parchment cleaned for reuse, from Greek palimpsēstos, from palin again + psēstos rubbed smooth, from psēn to scrape
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
FEEDBACK